


Ska's Not Dead

by daveythefriendlyghost



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe, Band, Band Tour, Family, Gen, Music, Music Artist, Music Tour, Realization, Self-Discovery, Ska's not dead, Vampire Matt (Eddsworld) - Freeform, ska music, ska tour, world tour
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:20:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27172342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daveythefriendlyghost/pseuds/daveythefriendlyghost
Summary: What would happen if you just wished it all away? would you regret never seeing your enemies ever again? would you basic in your new perfect reality? maybe, only you're inside your head...Tom slowly starts to realized that the life he always dreamed of isn't all it's cracked up to be,,, and the worst part is... the road to stardom was paved with blood... Tom inst who he thought he was at all... could this really be whole he was meant to be, a cold blooded killer?Join Tom on this strange and twisted tail of self discovery and realization!(Mentions of suicide, murder, and manipulation)
Kudos: 2





	1. -Prologue-/ Chapter one: -Rain-

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story that deals with the large problem that is self hatred, and the common misconception of the emotional distress it causes... contrary to popular belief, vanity is a side affect from an overcompensation to love yourself...  
> If you are struggling getting to know the person in the mirror, than maybe this work can help you out a bit... now, I'm not a therapist or at all someone who should give life advice, but I do know a thing or two about this topic... i know from first hand experience that hiding who you are in fear of not being excepted is not at all a way to live... so if you're hurting and hoping that the world will except you? I have a bit of timeless advice for you...  
> "If you wanna make the world a better place,,, take a look at yourself and make the change..." -Michael Jackson (Man In the Mirror) 1988

The only thing Thomas Squidgewell wanted to do was make one decent song, and he couldn't even do that… what was the point then? There was no point… pointless… that's all it was… pointless…

**Prologue: -Cause and affect-**

* * *

Not much ever went on in Matt’s head, a lot of people already knew that of course. Tom however had been very bothered by this recently and found his lack of brains irritating. Matt’s constant pestering had been wearing away at Tom for a number of years like a small drop of water rolling down a rock… slowly carving away his sanity… It was starting to get to him more than usually...

It’s not like Matt singled him out, but it sure felt like that to Tom. Matt would always, always ask how he looked as if Tom's opinion mattered so much. Tom would always nod and say he looked fine, even though he almost never actually cared about his outfit or hair. The nod and ‘you look fine’ thing worked for a while but then Matt started needing more… He would always ask if his look needed anything and if Tom didn’t say what Matt wanted, he would start to ask again and again… like a small child asking to do something over and over again even though their dad said no… It was a living hell for Tom and he didn't quite know why. Perhaps it was his over dependence on alcohol that was putting him on edge. Recently Tom had been very attached to the bottle, he would go out at night without telling anyone where he was going. This wasn’t new behavior for Tom but it was odd it was happening so frequently. The thing that bothered and concerned Edd though, was the fact that Tom wouldn’t come home sometimes… after a few times Edd stopped going out to look for him he just let him go and run free… he trusted Tom and knew he wasn’t doing anything too hurtful to himself…

he hoped… 

But like a good friend he couldn’t help but worry. 

One Sunday morning, Edd wanted his friends to go with him to a brunch at a new cafe that had opened a few blocks from their neighborhood with some people he knew online. Tord and Matt agreed to go, they thought it would be fun to eat Insta worthy food and take way to many photos. Edd noticed Tom was missing once they were mostly ready to go. 

“Hey guys... “ Edd asked, looking around. “Where’s Tom?...”

“I don’t know, I need to ask him about my new top!” Matt smiled looking down at the light purple tee that had the words ‘Once in a while someone great comes along, and here I am’ printed on it in fancy handwriting. The tee was tucked into some high-waisted jeans and a black belt was tied tight around his middle. He looked pretty good to be honest. 

“Um okay I'll go look for him then… wait here” Edd said concerned. He left his friends at the door and walked away to the end of the house to Tom’s door. He knocked and sighed. 

“Tom?...” Edd called. 

Nothing happened and Edd called again, “...Tom?”

After waiting another minute of silence, Edd opened the door. 

“Tom… I’m coming in…” 

The door creaked as it opened and saw Tom on the floor. He was facing the wall, curled in a ball. Edd walked up to him and went to put his hand on him, “Tom…” Edd said with now a voice of sympathy. As Edd got closer to the young man on the floor, he saw that there were two empty bottles of Smirnoff on the ground. 

“Oh… Tom… why…” Edd sat down on the ground next to Tom and put his hand on their back. Tom was out cold, just as Edd expected. 

“Tom, why do you have to act like this?... what went wrong?...” Edd felt really sad for his friend and felt tears roll up behind his eyes. 

He stood up and grabbed the empty bottles instead of sticking around to sob on his passed out best friend. He threw out the glass in the kitchen and walked back over to his friends waiting at the door. 

“Where's Tom?...” Tord asked, looking up from his phone followed by Matt looking up from his phone. 

“Yeah, where is he?...”

Edd’s face was red from being about to cry, the reason was no mystery to Tord. Tord wrapped his arm around his friend and pulled him into a hug, He knew why Edd was sad, it had to do with Tom... 

“Hey, what’s wrong?...” Tord asked. 

Edd shook his head and made a face at the ground. “Nothing.. I’m just… I don’t know…” 

Edd sunk into Tord and felt like crying, but fought so hard not to. Matt hugged Edd as well. 

“Still want to go to brunch?...” Tord asked. Edd nodded letting a comforted smile onto his face.

* * *

The following week, more and more times Tom would be passed out to be found by Edd. A new fear started to constrict Edd's soul, he was scared Tom was going to die. The dread and anxiety was so tight around Edd it made his tee-shirt seem too big. His body felt small and helpless, it felt as though it kept shrinking and shrinking into the ground every time he took a step. 

Edd's fear of Tom's demise wasn't irrational. Tom's life would take a turn towards an early grave if he kept giving in to his over-dependence on substance. If Tom didn't do something to help himself he would end up with alcohol poisoning, face down in reality. 

Tom was a calm drunk, he usually didn't lash out or anything when he was wasted. But recently Tom was angry, angry when he was drunk and when he wasn't. He always needed a drink... It was like he was having withdrawals even when he was buzzed. So Tom drank more… and more… and more… 

Tom would get quite cross when he was out of booze, and heaven forbid someone else drank it. He would get so angry he would just leave, disappear for hours. Tom's behavior was just something that the guys lived with and didn't bother them that much… 

**Chapter one: -Rain-**

* * *

Tom growled while looking down at the new song he was trying tirelessly to make come together. After hours of no progress he felt so in need of a drink. He threw the crumpled up piece of notepaper he was writing on, across the room. The balled-up notepaper soared through his bedroom and into a bin on the opposite wall. 

"Good shot!" A voice came from the doorway of Tom's tastelessly decorated room. 

Tom whipped his head to the side to see who it was, he was not in the mood for a visitor. It was Matt the live-in ginger who's love for himself was far greater than anyone else's. 

"What do you want Matt…" Tom asked annoyed, his eyes becoming half circles. 

"Well I was board so I tried some stuff… I just wanted to ask you if this looked good-" Matt turned and looked at Tom with a full face of what looked like experimental makeup. It was God awful to put it nicely… It looked like a unicorn vomited on his face, every color clashed. The makeup itself was done very well but the look was terrible. 

"Uhh…" Tom lifted an eyebrow while he stared at Matt. "Looks good I guess?..." Tom turned away and rested his elbow on his bass. "Why don't you ask Edd? He's the artist, not me…" 

"I did already... he said it needed something and I can't figure out what, so I'm asking you…" 

Tom was afraid this would happen, Matt would ask if it needed something… Now Tom was in trouble. Tom took a sharp breath in and grabbed his pillow. He let out a loud scream into it that startled Matt. After a few seconds of Tom's face buried in fluff, he looked up at Matt. 

"Well if it needs something go find it don't ask me, I don't know" Tom was getting more frustrated every second with the trivial nonsense Matt was putting him through. 

"Are you sure? You can't see anything wrong? Nothing missing? Nothing is too much? Too little? Why'd you scream?..." Matt looked in a hand mirror he was holding while he further questioned the irritated, struggling musician. 

"No Matt, I really don't know, okay?... Ugh, just go figure it out…" 

There was an awkward silence while Tom's dead stare stuck to Matt like hot wax. Matt finally spoke timidly, "Are you sure? Like really sure you don't know?..." 

Tom tried for a second to calm down; he never let things like this bother him before… why was this time any different than Matt's other nonsense?... This time was worse, Matt's words got stuck underneath Tom's skin and kept squirming around underneath it.

A few seconds passed and Tom let out the breath he was pinning up, finally thinking he could handle this…

Matt looked back down in his mirror and smiled, “I know!... I'll ask Tord to help you think! You guys can figure it out”

This was it, the final nail in the coffin of stupidity… Tom lost it. 

"That's it!-" He yelled, tossing his bass on the bed beside himself and getting up. "Matt! Why can't you take a hint!? Bloody idiot! You never look good in that crap okay!? You're a ginger! And you're a fucking ugly one you little twat!" Tom walked out of the room, passed Matt into the hall. He didn't mean it really, Tom was a ticking time bomb because of his recent over-dependence on alcohol and Matt just happened to be in the eruption. 

He stormed into the kitchen and opened the cabinet looking for a drink, but found nothing. 

"Tord!?" Tom was so needy it was becoming physically painful to exist, he needed the escape he found in alcohol and he needed it now. "Why is my Smirnoff gone!? Where is it!?" 

Edd appeared in the kitchen holding Matt in a side hug. 

"Tom…" came the voice of reason. "Why are you acting so angrily and rude?... Why would you say such things?" 

Tom looked at Edd in disbelief. "Rude?..." He asked in a fake and brief calmness. "Rude!?... I'm not being rude! I'm being real!” He started to yell louder than before… “ You wanna hear rude!? Okay! … Edd you're a fat bastard who sucks at art!..." He stopped yelling to see the response. 

Edd had tried so hard not to cry for the past two weeks, he hadn't let himself give in yet. Hearing such awful things come out of a sober Tom's mouth was like a sharp pain in Edds heart. Every day from when Tom had started his bender to now flashed before Edd's eyes and he was overtaken by emotion. He finally after so long let go of the river he was holding back and started to cry. 

"Really!? Am I the only one who doesn't have their head up their ass!?-" Tom pointed to Matt in Edd's arms who was crying as well from Tom's prior engagement, makeup running and so was his nose. 

"And have a look at this sight! He can't even take a splash of reality! He breaks down into a three-year-old's tantrum when I tell him what he doesn't want to hear!... You think you have it bad!? I’m not even human! I never was! I don’t even fucking KNOW what I bloody am… No one does! No one cares about me… I don’t even have a family...” Tears started to fall down Tom’s face as he screamed, he wasn’t even sure why he was crying… He turned around starting to feel bad for himself more than angry. Looking up his eyes landed on the open cabinet and the lack of booze, anger filled his stomach again. 

He whipped right back around, “Don't even get me started on Tord! Oh, that commie fuckoff steals my shit… he should be dead if you ask me!..." 

Edd scowled at Tom, tears falling on the floor. 

"Get out Tom… Get out and don't come back…" Edd choked out weakly. 

Tom stood there shocked that Edd would talk to him like that after all he had been through like he was the bad guy. He finally spoke, "You know what? … I will… I will leave you two arsholes to suck each other's dicks…" Tom walked to the front door and opened it letting the sound of the rain and thunder get in. He then turned and frowned. "You all are pointless…" 


	2. -Umbrella-

* * *

Walking alone in the rain, Tom felt no remorse or guilt for his actions. All he felt was pure, unmatched rage careening through him. 

"Edd's an arshole…" Tom started to mutter to himself as he did sometimes. "...and so is Matt and his stupid mirrors and makeup and whatever the hell else he shoves in my fac-" 

"Ello, stranger!" A voice called from the dimly lit alleyway, interrupting Tom's small rant to himself. Tom looked around in the dark rain and saw a deranged man standing in a metal dustbin. He wore ragged clothes and had what appeared to be blood on his hands and face… 

what?…

"What made you come out in the rain without an umbrella?" He asked in a thick cockney accent that was just shy of incomprehensible. 

"Uh… my frien- flatmates were being arsholes so I left in the rain…" Tom replied, why he was giving this crazy homeless man the time of day was a mystery to even him. 

"Welp I've got just the thing for ya then, 'ere ya go!" He held out a tattered umbrella with a black and white checked pattern on it that he pulled out from God knows where. Tom felt strange when he first saw the object… in his stomach, almost like a small fairy was flying around in there. 

"Uhh-" is all that Tom said when he saw it. He thought for a moment of the pros and cons of taking this umbrella. He finally decided to take it, despite the numerous cons that outweighed the pros. Something in Tom's gut told him he needed it, plus it might have had a few holes but it was better than nothing. 

Tom leaned forward and grabbed the umbrella from the creepy homeless man's sticky hand. 

"Thanks," Tom said, almost forgetting his anger. 

"No… thank you," The man said eerily while tipping his nasty hat. 

Tom looked up at the umbrella once he opened it then back at the homeless man… or where he would be if he was still there. He was gone… not even a sign that he was ever there.

Brushing off the strange experience, Tom kept walking with his new umbrella. He walked to his bar and hoped to find someone to go home with, mainly for the roof, not the action… though the sex wouldn't be so bad, at this point he just needed something to do. 

Once at his regular place, Tom pushed open the door and walked in. The smell of humans and beer would be a punch in the pants to any non-hardened bar goer… but the sheer grizzlyness of the place was something that Tom actually liked…

The barkeep gave Tom a sideways glance and started to prepare his usual drink. Tom was pretty wet from the rain even though he had an umbrella. The worn thing was pretty wet too, so he put it up to dry on a hook that was near the entrance. He took his normal seat at the bar and let out a sigh and some shivers. 

"Smirnoff, cold, no ice," the man behind the counter said in a ruff voice. 

"Thanks, mate…" Tom grabbed it and started to drink the clear liquid. 

"So what's with the umbrella? I seen you a hundred times and I ain't never seen yous with an umbrella…" The barkeep gestured to Tom's hanging umbrella. 

"Oh stay out of it…" Tom said, annoyed. 

The barkeep only gave a grumble in response and walked away to help other customers. 

Tom sighed thinking about how he was going to make it through the night… Who was he kidding?... no one was going to take him home… not a freak like him.

Tom sat in silence for what felt like an hour until the man he was sitting next to, turned and looked at him. Tom, ignoring the man's stare, asked the barkeep for another glass of vodka. He was only on his second… something about the strange feeling he had concerning the umbrella, made him hesitant to drink… This unwanting to drink was a nice change of pace, but it was foreign to him.

"You seem like you come to this bar a lot… " the man sitting next to Tom said in a Dutch accent. 

"And you sound like you're far from home…" Tom said before taking another sip of his drink. The stranger hummed an almost defeated response as he took a drink of whisky. 

Tom stared at the wall behind the bar, it was decorated with many different bottles and brands of alcohol all on different shelves and taps. There was also a saltwater fish tank with a small leopard shark in it… Needless to say, it was a lot to look at. 

The young alcoholic's gaze was only shifted when the stranger spoke once more. 

"What are you running from?..." He asked in a voice that was laced with experience. Tom turned and finally got a good look at him, and didn't quite understand what he saw. The man was ruff yet appeared well mannered and had a feeling of adventure about him. He was dressed in a pink hoodie with a blue overcoat, fingerless gloves, and combat boots. His face, however, was the most bewildering. His features were tired and his hair unkempt, but the most prominent part of his appearance were his eyebrows. They were unusually large and looked as if they held many secrets. On his right side, he had a large scar that reached from the bottom of his eye to the middle of his cheek. 

"Take a picture, it will last longer…" The man said annoyed. 

Tom hadn't realized he was staring and looked away red.

"Sorry…" He responded. 

The man subject to Tom’s staring rolled his eyes and said, "It's fine… I'm sure a lot of people stare at you…"

"Because of my eyes?…" Tom raised an eyebrow.

"Your eyes and my eyebrows…" the man chuckled at the similarity in their problems. 

"Yeah" Tom had a small smile, which was the first to escape from him in a while.

"My name's Paul" He outstretched a hand for Tom to shake. He noticed the stranger had chipped varnish on his nails. 

"Tom…" Tom shook Paul's hand, making note of how strong the handshake was… which made sense, he was pretty built. 

"Hmm… you are running from something though, I can tell" Paul concluded about Tom in the five minutes they had known each other.

"Yeah?... What?" Tom asked.

"Don't know… you tell me…"

"Why should I?... Why would you care?..." 

"If you're here…alone... instead of at home, in your own bed, in your own room… then somethings wrong, you're running from something…" Paul looked Tom in the eyes, dead serious about everything that came out of his mouth. 

Tom let out a sigh, "okay… okay… I am running… from my flatmates…" 

"You're full of shit..." Paul said in a sing-song way that saw right through Tom. 

"It's true! I am running from them!" Tom couldn't help but smile and laugh as he hopelessly defended himself. 

"No, you're running from yourself, from something inside you…" Paul pointed to Tom's chest to reference his whole being. 

Tom thought for a moment before saying, "Wow, nothing gets past you..." 

"Oh no believe me… a lot gets past me" Paul chuckled and so did Tom, they shared a moment of laughter. 

After a fit of grown-up giggles, Paul's face turned to ponder a thought. 

"Have a place to sleep tonight?..." Paul asked, finishing off the last of his whiskey. He placed his glass upside down throwing a few coins down next to it.

"Uh…" Tom realized he unfortunately found his ticket to a bed in Paul. Not that Paul was unattractive, he was actually just the kind of bad boy that made Tom a bit crazy, but Tom didn't feel like a one night stand… not with Paul, he was someone Tom might want to build a friendship with… not a testy relationship… but Paul was the only person in the bar that showed interest in him, and he did need a place to sleep.

"...no…" He said looking at the floor. 

"Figured… you can crash at my flat while you sort things out with your friends…" Paul was fixing the collar of his coat as he spoke to Tom. 

Tom realized Paul was offering him a place to stay for more than one night… maybe he could make this work… maybe a real relationship was something Tom needed… though Tom saw Paul as more of a potential friend than a boyfriend… part of him was curious to see what Paul was made of. He would be a friend you want to have sex with, everyone has those.

"They're not my friends anymore…" Tom declared in his tipsy state. Surprisingly, Tom listened to his gut and hadn't actually drank that much, making him only a bit tipsy, which had worked out. If he was completely hammered, Paul probably wouldn't have invited him to stay and he probably would have passed out at the bar.

"Okay, your flatmates then" Paul held out both hands to emphasize the change of wording. "Come on…" Paul headed for the door with Tom behind. He grabbed his busted up umbrella and followed Paul out into the rain. 

"What the hell is that? Paul laughed putting his hood over his messy brown hair. 

Tom frowned over dramatically, "it's my umbrella" 

Paul rolled his eyes and smiled as they walked together in the rain. 


	3. -A Wish-

* * *

O nce the steam had time to escape the tense situation, an eerie silence took over the house. The only noise was the sound of the wind and rain beating against the windows. Edd, who had just gotten over Tom's explosion, was in the kitchen to get a cola… hopefully, it would soothe his emotional pain. All he had done for Tom and all the worry he threw his way felt as though it was for nothing.

Opening the fridge he found three cans, taking two in hand and putting the other in his hoodie pocket. After popping one open for himself, he made his way to the den where Matt was, face of makeup only a faint memory.

"Matt…" Edd quietly said to his friend, who sat recovering Tom's rant on the sofa. The telly was playing a loop of ads and news reports, but the volume was down and was almost too quiet to hear.

The ginger finally looked up at Edd after a bit of hesitation and sighed.

"Yes, Edd?..." He asked half spirited.

Edd sat down next to Matt on the eye bleedingly red sofa. He put his arm around his undead friend and handed Matt a can of cola.

"Thanks…" he said, taking the can.

"How do you feel?..." Edd asked, feeling beaten down himself.

"Like a failure" Matt looked like he was about to cry again.

"Wha-why?" Edd's eyes widened as he put down his drink and pulled Matt into a hug.

Matt lost it, he choked out cries into Edd's green hoodie, getting the side of it all wet.

"Because Tom hates me and I can't live with that... " He sobbed.

Edd frowned and pushed Matt off to look him in the eyes. "Hey-" he said seriously. "Why do you care what Tom thinks anyway?... I thought Matt was all about 'love yourself and don't let others bring you down'..."

Matt shook his head, "I don't know… he's just the person I always wanted to impress… ever since we were in secondary school…" Matt couldn't believe how good it felt to finally tell someone the nature of his insecurities.

"What?..." Edd was confused a bit. "But… you and Tom were friends and he never cared if you were ‘cool’… he liked you for you!" Edd encouraged, using finger quotations to emphasize ‘cool’.

"I know… but I didn't… so I always admired him for loving me even though I didn't…" Matt looked away and opened his can of cola Edd had offered him earlier. "And he was always so bold about fashion and music and hair… and I just wanted to be like that too…" Matt sunk into the sofa and quietly cried.

The two young men sat in silence for a good long bit listening to the news reports and updates. The occasional sniffle came from Matt but no conversation.

"Why didn't you ever tell him that?..." Edd stopped the lack of sound by asking. He turned to look at Matt after taking a sip of his cola.

Matt turned to face him as well. "I don't know… I just didn't… but it's for the best…” Matt dried the last of his self-pity tears on his lavender sleeve. “You heard what he really thinks of me…"

Edd sighed and stood up, "I'm sorry Matt… I am… I’ll be right back…" Matt just looked up at him and nodded, understanding.

Edd walked away to get something he knew would make Matt feel better, a treat. He walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer. He looked around and pulled out some homemade ice-lollies with a handwritten label. The label read 'Matt's Do Not Eat!!!' with three exclamation points. Setting down his cola on the counter, he pulled one of the red frozen treats out and walked back out to the den. Edd bent over the back of the couch and waved it in front of Matt's face.

"look what I have!" Edd smiled and said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh!" Matt snatched it out of his hands and popped it in his mouth. "Thanks, Edd," Matt said with his mouth full, already feeling better. Edd headed back to the kitchen, "no problem!" he called.

Edd put the rest of the lollies away and grabbed his can of cola off the counter. Taking a sip and heading to Tord's room, he knocked on the door.

"Hey, Tord…" Edd called unsure if he was even in there.

"Ya? what?" Tord's accent rang out quite thick through the door as he answered Edd, as it did when he was nervous or caught off guard. Scrambling could be heard followed by the door being opened, revealing Tord.

"Oh hello Tord, I was just wondering if we could talk?..." Edd greeted his oldest friend.

"Ja! Sorry, I was in the middle of something was all…" Tord let Edd in and he sat down on the bed.

"Here I brought you a cola" Edd handed Tord the drink out of his hoodie pocket, who took it and smiled.

"Takk…" He thanked Edd for the drink.

"Sooo… did you hear Tom explode earlier?..." Edd asked the man in red.

"Uh yeah I did… I was going to ask about that…" Tord sat down in his desk chair and fidgeted with what looked like a piece of green metal.

"Well, Tom got mad, yelled and called us some really bad names and stuff… he made Matt cry, … and me…"

"Pfft- That's just like Tom for yu…" Tord rolled his eyes. "Is he still here? You need me to kill him for you? Eh?" Tord laughed.

"No… I threw him out…" Edd hugged himself and looked away.

"Heh! Tough on em?" Tord enjoyed talking to Edd, it was just so natural for him… it always was.

“Oh shut up!...” Edd laughed leaning back on Tord’s bed.

“Okay okay… '' Tord smiled and laughed, looking over at Edd and popped a pair of goggles on his forehead. He pulled down the eye protection and stuck his tongue out as he concentrated on his work.

“What are you doing anyway?...” Edd leaned forward to see what was on Tord’s desk.

“Ohhh nothing…” Tord said nonchalantly not looking up from his work.

* * *

T he rain fell like an endless queue onto Tom’s worn, bent umbrella, leaking in some areas. His hair was wet and so was the top of his hood, but he was not as wet as Paul. Paul, who had his hood pulled up, was pretty much soaked. Water dripped down his forehead from his hood that was dark and wet. He looked miserable. Tom leaned over and put his umbrella over the two of them. Paul looked at Tom then back at the ground smiling.

They walked pretty much in silence, apart from the occasional mention of their distaste for the rain. When the two drenched young men arrived at Paul’s front door, he spoke.

“Hey, uhh… just be quiet okay Tom…” Paul rubbed the back of his neck out of nervousness.

“Uhh sure, but why?” Tom asked, already lowering his voice. 

“My flatmates are probably asleep already and I know my boyfriend won't be happy I was at the bar, let alone brought someone back…” Paul chuckled at his current dilemma and unlocked the door.

Tom raised an eyebrow at the word boyfriend, Tom felt a small part of his heart, the curious part, die. He wasn't too upset however, because he now could have Paul as only a friend you would have sex with. He followed Paul into the house, happy to get out of the rain. Tom closed his umbrella and hung it on a hook that had another one next to it.

Paul dripped on the white tile floor as he kicked off his boots and placed them by the front door. There were a lot of shoes by the door, Paul's boot ended up plopped next to next to a similar pair but smaller. 

“You can sleep on the sofa…” Paul pulled Tom into a nice long soft hug and kissed his cheek. Tom was glad it was dark, he was all kinds of red. Paul pulled away and yawned, "okay… good night… I have to go to bed now…" Paul disappeared into the dark flat, leaving a now sad Tom alone. Tom said there for a while, he raised his hand up and touched where Paul kissed him. Now all he wanted to do was sleep with him…

Tom took off his wet checkered shoes and threw them near the other boots. Tom struggled out of the front entry and found his way through the dimly lit house. There were pictures on the walls of, what Tom could see, four different people. Paul and another young man who was tall with brown hair. The other man looked close to Paul from the faces and poses. Tom assumed this was Paul’s mentioned boyfriend, there were a lot of pictures of him too. Oh Tom wanted to strangle him… he was the reason Tom felt like this again... 

His first impression of Paul’s man was a poor one, he didn't know if it was the way he looked or if he was just biased. Tom would describe him like he couldn’t do anything for himself, like he was scared of his own shadow. Tom also thought he would be nitpicky, like a stuck up bitch with no regard for human feelings. Tom could have either been spot on or way wrong, but it was the spot on he feared… Paul deserved better than what Tom perceived. 

There were two others in some of the pictures Tom couldn’t really figure out, a small blond and a built guy with black hair. He shrugged it off, he must be too tired or too tired of seeing people through a not so rosy lens.

Once Tom found his way to the said sofa, he sat down in the dark. He sat alone with his thoughts for a little too long, they started to become darker than the room.

_ ‘Edd’s so stupid…’ _ Tom thought as he narrowed his eyebrows.  _ ‘So is Matt!... that burk couldn't pour milk out of a carton if the instructions were on the bottom…’  _ Tom took off his hoodie and draped it over himself like a blanket as he laid down.  _ ‘I wish I never knew any of them… they wouldn't be taking up headspace… buuut nooooo, the room in my brain I could be using to house song lyrics is full of memories of Matt asking me how to spell DNA… GOD! I hate them…’ _ he seethed with anger, and his cheeks started to heat up. _ ‘I wish I never even met them! I wish I could just get away from them and everything that goes with them! I wish I never saw Matt and Edd or Tord ever again!...  _ I wish I could just live my life the way I wanted…"

* * *

Tom woke up to a ray of sunshine in his face and the sound of voices. He opened his eyes one at a time and blinked a few times, this was how he normally woke up. Not knowing where he was or why he was in so much pain. Tom saw the living room he was sitting in a remembered Paul and how he let him stay here. 

He saw some shadows of people on the wall and decided to go investigate. If you could call it investigation, he smelled good and was hungry. He left his hoodie on the sofa and cracked his back with a loud satisfying pop. Tom walked passed by a mirror and saw how bad he looked, he had bags under his eyes. He shook his head and continued on… maybe he could get some coffee or tea or something with caffeine. 

As he entered the kitchen from following the voices, everything came to a screeching halt. Tom could feel every eye of the people he saw melt his skin. Two young men, the blond one and the one with black hair, were sitting at the small breakfast table. Tom recognized the men from the pictures and the table from the bargain aisle at that Swedish furniture store. He then saw Paul's boyfriend, he also recognized from the pictures, at the stove cooking pancakes. But no Paul...

For the minutes that silence took over the house, Tom felt like he was looking at a photograph of people, still, silent… 

Suddenly Paul's boyfriend said what everyone was thinking, "Who the hell are you?" 


	4. -Night Prowler-

* * *

Edd walked off into the hall after chatting up Tord. He seemed refreshed in a way, ready to reevaluate his current situation with Tom. Tord had suggested Edd keep him away and keep his word throwing him out like that, but Edd, being forgiving and rather understanding… decided to give it a few days, if Tom came back with an apology and a white tag… he would gladly welcome him back onto the home he paid no rent for… 

Tom had been out of work a while and couldn't pay his share of the rent, Matt and Edd pitched in for him in exchange for Tom doing most if not all of the housework, but it still made a large dent in the overall morale in the house…

Edd sighed as he walked down the hall and into the corridor where the front door kissed the house. He peered out the window and a small part of him hoped to see Tom standing there waiting to be let in… but it was not so… 

He shook his head and walked away back to where he had left Matt in the living room. The poor ginger had fallen asleep on the sofa with a half-empty can of cola in his hand, and an ice lolly stick in his mouth… 

Edd smiled a little seeing his friend so tired, he frowned looking closer at him. Matt's fangs stuck out while he slept, they were sticking out quite a ways as his mouth hung open a bit… Matt never told anyone that he was not human anymore, Edd, Tord, and Tom knew of course but he ever really shared how he felt about it with Edd. After he first was bitten that fateful Halloween, he went crazy and tried to kill Edd… because he never got mad at him for his absolutely atrocious behavior, Matt felt safe talking about his behaviors with Edd, but only Edd… It was his deepest darkest secret after all.

Edd carefully took the stick out of his mouth and put it down on the coffee table. He took the cola, placing it next to the stick, and pulled a blanket over Matt. 

"Good night Buddy…" Edd whispered and turned the light off as he walked away. He made his way to his room and stopped before opening the door, the quiet dark house brought a certain feeling to Edd. He looked around and rubbed the back of his neck trying to cope with this strange feeling of loneliness he felt… he felt bad for throwing Tom out… he didn't even have a job, where did he go? What would he do?... Edd felt responsible for his friends… like a caption that a crew depended on and it got to him sometimes… he felt like he needed to protect Tord ever since they were tots in primary school because he didn't speak any English… he helped him by speaking for him and helping him adapt to life in the United Kingdom. Edd had realized he needed to be a pillar in Matt's life a few years ago when he became a vampire… ever since then the only person he could count on to help him was Tom… but even now he just felt like another plant Edd needed to water…

Edd leaned into his door and rested his forehead against the wood. He swallowed hard trying not to cry again over this overwhelming thought process. He finally opened his door and stood there for a bit before walking inside. Edd didn't bother turning on the light and walked up to his closet. He started to open the sliding wood door when he felt a chilling wind sweep through the room. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and his ass clench, he quickly turned around and let out the smallest gasp. Edd hoped to god the creepy horror movie-esk vibe was simply from a half-asleep vampire and not some evil demon ghost. Edd was breathing hard and he backed up into the wall so nothing could attack him from behind, "He- M-Matt?" he choked out.

Two red glowing eyes slowly opened in the darkness and looked directly at Edd. He breathed in a sharp quick breath and ran for the light, Edd crashed into the wall hitting himself square in the nose. 

"Oh- OW!-" He held his hurt face and searched around helplessly for the light switch. He felt the warm wet familiar feeling of blood pool in his hand as he frantically combed the wall for the ticket to seeing this monster that was for sure trying to kill him. 

The cold wind swept across the room once again and Edd gave up, he sat on the floor and backed into a corner. 

The two blood-red eyes looked down at Edd, with a certain hunger behind them… they got closer and all the poor boy could do was watch as his life flashed before his eyes. 

Suddenly the lights flashed on and Edd closed his eyes tight, the sudden change from darkness to light scared his already jumpy self. He carefully opened his eyes and looked up at his pursuer. 

It was Matt, his eyes were no longer red and he had a look of concern on his face, "Edd, what the- you okay?" He asked, twisting his face into a kind smile. 

Edd let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was Matt… although Matt had only acted that creepy once before.

Edd, still holding his nose, spoke up, "Oh bloody Hell Matt… what in the world were you doing!? You gave me a fucking heart attack!... And a bloody nose…" edd stood up slowly to face Matt.

Matt giggled covering his mouth, "I'm sorry… I was just coming in here to wait for you… I didn't know you were in here until you called my name… but you started to freak out and I didn't know what to do…" He started to laugh and turn a bit pink from embarrassment. 

Edd blushed as well, "Ah- sorry… I got scared of your eyes, Matt… I completely forget they did that… I remember they did turn red at the cinema tho…" 

Matt smiled, "Oh yeah! I do remember that… I guess they do that in the dark?" He turned the light back off and sure enough, he looked at Edd with two brilliant glowing red eyes, only this time they looked friendly… 

"Yeah- totally glowing…" Edd laughed a bit dryly. 

Matt flipped the switch back on and sighed, wrapping himself tighter in the blanket Edd had put in him. 

"I came in to ask if I could sleep in here… I don't want to be alone…" 

Edd smiled, "Yeah sure, just let me take care of-" 

Matt suddenly grabbed Edd and pulled him very close to his face, his eyes turned a deep red color even though the lights were on. 

"Matt?... Matt!?" Edd looked into his eyes.

Matt pulled Edd's hands away from his face and looked down at them blankly. He stuck out his tongue and slowly licked the blood off them. 

Edd made a grossed out face, but his face quickly turned to morbid amusement. 

"Ah- Matt what the hell?" He chuckled.

Matt turned his face towards Edd and slowly started to lick Edd's face. Matt smiled at the warm taste of his blood, "Mmm…" he hummed and licked the rest of Edd's face clean. 

Edd sighed and just kinda let this happen for a few reasons. The first of which was the fact in this moment he was, although hiding it well, scared shitless. He knew there was an all too real chance that Matt could lose himself and bite or possibly kill Edd. The poor thing didn't really know how to cope with his blood lust and the ice pops only did so much...

The other reason was that Matt seemed to be enjoying himself snuggling Edd and licking his face… Edd figured Matt could use an emotional pick me up after feeling dreadful about Tom earlier. So if that meant letting Matt lick the life-juice off his face, Hey? What are friends for? 


	5. -Full House-

* * *

Tom jumped a little at the sudden questioning, “uhh Tom?...” He replied.

“What are you doing here Tom?...” Paul’s boyfriend asked. 

Before Tom could answer, he felt the presence of another person standing behind him. He turned around and saw a very familiar face… Paul’s boyfriend?... Tom quickly looked back at the stove where he thought his gaze had left him, and indeed saw him there. Tom looked back at the new Paul’s boyfriend and raised an eyebrow. 

Tom stammered in confusion, “There’s two of you?...” Is all Tom could say. 

The man standing at the stove put his hand on his hip, “Yeah, but I’m the pretty one…” He said very factually. 

The one behind Tom chuckled and shook his head, "Yes there are two of us… I'm Patryck and that's Pay…" he pointed to Pay at the stove.

Pay smiled, "And that's Tom…" he pointed at Tom with his spoon. 

Patryck was a bit confused, he closed his eyes and put his hand on his forehead, "Okay okay- I'm playing a bit of catch up here… Who are you?" He asked pointing to Tom.

"I told you- He's Tom…" Pat frowned. 

"That means nothing… Who are you? Why are you here? Did you break-in?" Patryck suddenly turned serious and glared at Tom taking a step closer to him.

Tom backed away further into the kitchen and held up his hands in defense.

"No-No I was sleeping on the sofa, Paul let me stay…" 

Patryck's face turned from scary, to annoyed at the mention of that name.

"Oh course…" he said with a sigh, "Well… you want some breakfast?" He suddenly said turning hospitable. 

Tom put down his arms and blinked a few times, unsure what to make of this new atmosphere. 

"Um yeah, I'm starving…" Tom let himself smile a bit.

Pay made a nice plate of food for Tom and set it down on the table next to the tall intimidating guy with black hair. Tom walked closer to sit down but noticed his seat was already taken up by a small boy… he was pale and had brown hair underneath a white ASDF cap. He looked up at Tom and gave him a blank stare. 

Tom chuckled nervously, "Oh sorry- I thought this was my seat…" 

The big guy next to him looked down at the little kid. 

"Hey… move AK…" he said in a thick Russian accent.

The small child didn't say a word and simply got off the chair. He ran over to Pay to see if his pancakes were ready for consumption. 

Tom raised an eyebrow watching the kid run away, he sat down. The young man across the table with stunning blond hair noticed Tom's interest in AK. 

"That's AK… we used to call him FDK but that didn't really sound like much of a name so we named him AK… a fitting name I think, he can spot better than me…" He giggled and took a bite of his pancakes. 

The man with black hair rolled his eyes and chuckled, "Many people can shoot better than you…" 

"Oh shut up Yanny…" He frowned and faked a sad face.

"Stop calling me Yanny Yuu!-" The man called 'Yanny' by the other seemed annoyed in a big brother to little brother sort of way.

"Okay Fine, Yanov…" The other over-exaggerated the name. 

"Thank you, Yuu…" Yanov smiled and relaxed and closed his eyes. 

Tom thought for a moment, "Hold on… is your name, You? Or did he just say it twice?" Tom had been listening to these two go back and forth for a bit and silently gathered intel. He now knew the big Russian's name was Yanov, the blind's name might be Yuu, but Tom still had some questions about the child.

Yuu laughed, "Oh yeah- My name is Yuu, it's hard to understand in English…" 

Tom didn't quite notice the boy's accent until he mentioned the fact his name wasn't English. 

"Yeah, but I couldn't make any puns about my new in Norsk- and I love making Yuu laugh!" He giggled and did double finger guns at Tom. 

'Oh- There it is-' Tom thought to himself in a sing-song way. Norway did fit the accent, but it didn't fit the face or the name… and honestly, at this point, Tom didn't really care… he had more important questions.

Tom turned towards Patryck who was starting a pot of coffee. He did give Yuu a small courtesy laugh for his stupid joke, but he did want a few more answers… and he didn't really want to ask the house clown anything else.

"Uh, Patryck? You said your name was?-" Tom choked out after eating the dry as hell breakfast… Pay wasn't the best cook but he tried. Tom noticed Yuu and Yanov put a flood of syrup and followed suit. It didn't do much to mask the mouth full of sand that was Pay's pancakes but it did help…

Patryck faced Tom after giving him a sideways glance, "Yes? And Yes I'm Patryck…" 

"Um, I noticed the photographs on your walls last night and I assumed one of you were Paul's boyfriend?" Tom asked with a stupid nervous smile. 

Pay did a little grooving dance from excitement and whipped around to look at Tom, he had a huge smile on his face. This man had way too much energy.

"Oh-Oh, it's me! I'm Paul's my big strong bear and I love him…" He called out much to Patryck's annoyance.

Tom's face twisted into concern when he imagined the hot mess that was Pay, with his dirty hair and crop top… overall horrible sense of style and his inability to cook would end up with Paul? Tom has known the man less than a half-hour and he already wanted to run away from him… 

Patryck rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something when he was interrupted by someone. 

"Mornin' Family…" Paul yawned and rubbed his eyes, "What's for food?" He asked, tiredly walking up to Patryck. Pat looked down at the scary, tired pre-coffee and pre-first cigarette Paul. He handed Paul a mug and smiled, "Good Morning Paul," 

Paul took the coffee happily smelling the sweet sugar and the cream of the milk that laid just beneath the bitter of the coffee. 

"Mmm, thanks Love," He stood on his tippy toes to give his lover a kiss on the cheek. 

Tom now could come to the much more understandable conclusion that Patryck was in a relationship with Paul, not Pay… Tom gained a small amount of happiness watching Paul look so in love… but he also felt a bit jealous… oh how he wanted so dearly to be where Patryck was standing.

Patryck leaned in a wrapped his free arm around Paul, "Hey Paul?" He asked softly with a kind loving smile. 

"Yeah?" Paul asked closing his eyes and enjoying his boyfriend's early embrace.

Patryck, still holding his calm loving tone asked, "Why the fuck is there a stranger in our home?" 

Paul's eyes shot open, "OH my GOD- I completely forgot about Tom!-" He pushed away from Patryck and looked around. 

"I'm uh- I'm right here…" Tom Laughed raising his hand. 

"Oh!- oh… okay…" Paul calmed down and took a drink of his coffee. He looked back up at Pat. 

"Okay, I don't completely remember everything, I was pretty tired… and tipsy…" Paul chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. 

Patryck crossed his arms and stared down at Paul for his brilliant explanation.

"So uh- we met in the bar and we talked, I found out he was homeless soooo I brought him here… I didn't really think I'm sorry I'm stupid…" 

Patryck scowled at Paul for a while, then his face turned softer and he looked concerned. He turned to Tom, "You don't have a place to go?" He asked.

Tom shook his head, "No… the guy who I lived with kicked me out like he owned the place… dick… I didn't even do anything…" Tom protested.

"Well he sounds pleasant… " Yuu said sarcastically.

Patryck sighed, "Alright… you can stay here for a bit until you figure it out I guess…" 

Paul smiled and so did Tom, "oh thanks Mate!" Tom beamed, "You won't even have to bother with me…" 

Patryck mumbled, "Yeah I'm sure…"


	6. -Waking Up a Little-

* * *

The past couple of days had been going pretty well for Tom, he didn't want to jinx it but he was liking living with Paul… and the others… True, every so often he would get a bit sad that Paul was taken and had little to no internet back in him… that he could tell, however, Tom was hopeful Paul had a side that didn't mind his weirdness… he just needed to tell Paul how he felt…

Tom was up early before everyone else, he was gazing, eyes half-open at himself in the bathroom mirror. He had plans to go back to bed after having a good piss but something about the quiet, empty morning kept him away…

"So-" Tom asked himself in a whisper, "What are you going to do about it?" He tried to give himself a small pep talk in the mirror before he had to face a day full of… Pay…

Pay didn't have a job at that point in his life so he stayed home with AK and now Tom. AK was easy to take care of, he liked to just watch the telly and play on someone's phone, he never talked. Tom wondered why but he didn't really care to ask, plus, he didn't even know if anyone knew.

Pat was a different story, all he ever did was talk, about what? Everything… everyone… all the time… It wore on Tom a bit like Chinese water torture, but it was better than I lifetime of Matt… Unlike Matt, Pay actually had some interesting things to say and actually wanted to listen to what Tom had to say… he listened to his interests and carried on a conversation about those topics. This was actually a little surprising to Tom, he could actually have a conversation that he gained back from with Pay… although he found a new friend it made him miss having long talks with Edd about nothing…

Tom's pep talk sort of turned into a plan to talk to Paul about how he felt. He didn't really want to tell him but he knew part of him did want to… he also needed some new clothes he realized after Tom caught a whiff of himself. He needed to go back to his house and get clothes… and Susan, he missed her!

After a few yawns and some eye rubs, Tom left the bathroom in search of Patryck. Patryck was standing in the hallway fixing his hair and dressed for work. He worked at a shoe store, it was pretty tiresome, especially because they had put him in the children's section for the time being.

"Hey, Pat-" Tom waved trying to greet him while at the same time getting his attention.

Pat turned and looked at Tom, then looked back on the mirror to fix his collar.

"Hmm?" He asked tiredly.

"I was wondering if I could catch a ride with you, I just need you to drop me off at Derdam lane nea-"

"Sorry I can't, I can tomorrow tho, it’s too out of my way and I'm already running late…" Patryck said apologetically, smiling at Tom.

Tom nodded and understood why he was stuck in his dirty clothes another day, but he was disappointed he couldn't go get Tomee Bear at least. Yes, he was a grown-ass man, but he loved his plush toy mate. He remembered getting him from his dad… Tom missed his father throughout his life, but he missed him a lot recently… so he found comfort in having the only piece of his dad he had left to hug.

“All right,” Tom drooped a little when he spoke, “I’ll just wait until then…”

Patryck nodded, ignoring Tom’s obvious sadness, and walked away to the kitchen to grab some coffee and a sad untoasted bagel on his rust to work. Tom followed Pat into the kitchen and rubbed the hole where his eye should have been. He sat down at the humble table pushed towards the far side of the wall and yawned. Tom closed his eyes for a little rest, after what felt like a blink, Patryck placed a nice warm cup of coffee in front of Tom.

Tom jolted at the stuffed awakening and gasped a little. He looked up at Patryck with a dazed fuzzy stare.

"Okay, have fun waking up, I have to go-" Patryck slid the mug closer to Tom and ruffled his hair. This gesture was a strange, and rather intrusive action that most people would have been put off by yet Tom welcomed the affection… especially because he didn't quite feel like an equal to Pat. True, he was roughly the same age as Patryck but he felt emotionally much younger… he was sure a lot of people felt this way around him, Pat just radiated Mum vibes… it was comforting in a way…

"Awe, okay… thanks for the coffee…" Tom smiled, sniffling a bit. His whole face was still trying to catch up with the fact Tom was awake, he had sleepy dust in his eyes and was still in need of a teeth brushing… unfortunately his toothbrush was still at the house…

Patryck grabbed the rest of his breakfast and his coffee to go. Walking out the door and giving a final wave and smile, with a bagel in his mouth that is, to Tom, he was gone.

The quiet house laid over Tom in a stiff and rigid sheet that somehow calmed him… he never really had any quiet at home, that was probably why he never wrote any decent songs. Tom knew however the noise would pick up a bit in about a half-hour since that was when Yuu woke up… he was quite the chatterbox, but in a different way than Pay.

After living in Paul's crowded flat for a few days, Tom had already taken note of the other people's routines and schedules. Paul left for work a few hours after Patryck to work at the same CoffeeHouse his neighbor worked. There were so many CoffeeHouses in the area and Paul happened to find a job at the same one Eduardo worked at… crazy…

Tom found this out just yesterday when they were all sitting eating dinner in the living room. Paul started chatting about work and saying how some guy he worked half his shift with was a maniac. Tom was only half-listening to the story until he got further into detail about how much the guy yelled and his seemingly unorthodox behavior. That, plus the fact Paul had mentioned he was American, had Tom almost doing a spit take.

"God morgen!-"

Tom snapped his head to the side to see Yuu standing there in his pajamas. 'Right on time', Tom thought to himself, he was a bit disoriented from still being tired and hungover.

Yuu left for work a wee bit after Patryck for a Till job at the GreenGrocers. He worked there and actually had a pretty good rep with the higher-ups, probably due to the fact he was unnaturally happy which made him a perfect HR slave.

"Oh, Hey Yuu…" Tom yawned and picked up his warm drink. He took a sip and smiled at the sweet creamery flavor. Tom looked back at Yuu with a new, fresh, caffeinated gaze.

"Hello, how are you this morning? I am pretty good, except I slept on my next quite weird and now it hurts to look to the side…" Yuu smiled. Yuu tented to talk super fast, which pared with the thick accent made him a bit hard to understand. Tom had a few days and could basically speak 'Yuu' by now…

"Oh- sorry, I hate when that happens… Why don't you take some painkiller?" Tom rubbed the side of his head and sighed, he'd love some aspirin right about now. 

"Oh!- good idea…" Yuu took a small bottle of pills out of the cabinet and rattled the contents. It didn't sound like it had that many in it, maybe two? Tom didn't know.

"Oh dang, these are so old… I'll get the fresh ones from the toilet…" Yuu skipped away to retrieve some meds for himself.

"YEAH- Yuu! Get me some!" Tom called out.

A few minutes after Yuu rushed off, a thud followed by an inaudible conversation came from the hallway. Yuu had run into Paul on the way to the bathroom, literally. Paul came yawning out from the hall wrapped in a blanket… he looked a little sick to be honest. He looked right at Tom and blinked kind of slowly, like a dazed predator stalking a confused prey.

"uhh…" Tom Rose an eyebrow at Paul, "You okay Paul?"

Paul shook his head quickly like a dog shaking off water, "Yeah- I'm fine… I'm just tired…" he pulled a cigarette put from only God knows where and put it unlit in his mouth. He turned away and grabbed some of the coffee Pat had made.

"Oh, okay… you look- uh nevermind…" Tom mumbled and turned back towards his coffee. Tom thought for a moment about his little mirror pep talk this morning. He wanted to talk to Paul about how he felt but he was scared… Tom knew there was a ninety-nine percent chance that Paul wouldn't like him back, he seemed happy in his current relationship, and from what Tom could tell he wasn't looking to add to the drama. Besides? Who would love an eyeless freak like him?... On the other hand, even though Tom knew Paul would reject him, he still felt like he needed to tell him… like he was living a lie and needed to get the truth out before he exploded from anxiety. Tom accepted the fact Paul wouldn't want to love him back in a way like that, that part that scared him was being rejected as a friend… he didn't want to be thrown out onto the street and hated for his emotions… Tom was a spiraler, he would always go deeper into the dark pit of his own irrational thought, slowly circling the drain until he was too scared to do something. And he was overthinking and spiraling big time on how he should handle this…


End file.
